I was at Logan International in Boston last week with several hours to kill before meeting up with my ride. After pursuing Massport’s listing of things to do I came across the 9/11 Memorial–a memorial to all of the people who were on the two flights that departed from Logan that day.
It was a challenge to find the memorial, and several times I almost gave up on my quest to find it. Once I’d finally made it there I was glad I had. Nobody else was there. I sat in silence, reading each name and letting each one wash over me–real names of real people with no idea of what was in store for them that day. Trying to fathom what it would have been like to be involved in the events of that day. Trying to fathom what it would be like to have lost one of those people. Trying to make sense of horror.
Like most people I remember exactly where I was that day. I was sitting in a class at EMC in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, learning to configure a Symmetrix. Someone came to the class after the first break and said a plane had crashed into a tower in New York. Thirty minutes later the reality of what had happened sunk in and class was canceled for the rest of the day. I drove a mile to where a friend (now my wife) worked to see if anyone there knew any more. We spent the rest of the day running errands and trying to make sense of what had happened–mostly numb.
Now I live on the opposite coast, thousands of miles away, living a completely different life, intrigued and thankful that the memorial stirred up so many different emotions and memories of the past.
Detailed Directions
Here are hopefully much better directions to the memorial than I was able to find:
1) Go to Terminal A (if you aren’t there already)–get on a free Blue & White airport shuttle that goes between the terminals.
2) Go to the baggage claim/ground transportation area. With your back to the baggage carousels, walk to the far left and take the elevator or escalator to the top floor (labelled “parking garage” in the elevator). Follow the signs to the parking garage and Hilton.
3) After crossing over the freeway via the sky bridge you’ll arrive at the parking garage, elevators and stairs.
4) Go down one floor to Level 2 and follow the directions to a second sky bridge to the Hilton hotel.
5) Follow the skybridge to the inside of the Hilton. Once inside, walk past the ball rooms and take the escalator to the ground floor. It’s a pretty big and swanky place. If you get lost, ask someone the way to the registration desk.
6) Upon reaching the registration desk, exit out through the front doors and head out towards the street.
7) The memorial is square glass and metal structure (in view) across the street.
Given the space premiums at Logan it is amazing they found a place for the memorial at all. So I understand why it might be a little out of the way and yet I wonder if part of the design could have been to make it easier to get to. On the other hand that would probably have made it more expensive too.
If you have some time I recommend visiting to pay your respects, thinking about where you were on that day, and what has happened to you since.
July 9, 2019 at 10:37 pm
Good news, they have now cut an opening through the wall of the garage at Terminal A and they have added signage. You no longer have to go all the way through the Hilton. From Terminal A, take the sky bridge to the garage level 1. As you leave the elevator bay, turn right and you should see the opening to access the memorial. As of July 9, 2019, it looked like it was still a work in progress, but they are clearly trying to make it easier to find and access. I don’t know how they did it, but in my 30 minutes there, I saw no people, no cars, and no airplanes.
January 25, 2019 at 4:25 pm
Thank you SIr! I will be going there in April and I really want to see this! I kept reading how hard it is to find but you’ve made it easier so I thank you kindly.
August 6, 2018 at 1:06 pm
Thank you! Perfect directions!!!